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January 31, 2012

Ten of the UK's best vintage reproduction clothing sources

After a month filled with much online vintage shopping (or at least a ton of virtual window shopping and a bit of buying) ,as I go about trying to fill in many of the gaps in my wardrobe, it seems fitting to wrap up the very last day of January with a post that ties into that fact.

On the other side of the giant pond, the fine folks in the UK know a thing or two about vintage reproduction clothing. In fact, I'd tentatively argue that the UK has more vintage repro clothing sellers than the US, and certainly more good ol' Canada (which is woefully lacking in this area).

For those vintage fashionistas who live in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, I'd imagine that this must be ultra handy and a great way to regularly update your closet with excellent old school style threads.

So long as we're willing to face somewhat steep exchange rates however, those of us outside of Europe can often avail of the products such UK vintage reproduction retailers offer online. In the past couple of months I've placed my first ever (but very long anticipated) orders with two such sellers, and had sparklingly wonderful transactions with both.

As such, I decided to put together a list of ten vintage reproduction clothing sellers, including the two I've ordered from myself (Freddies of Pinewood and Heyday Vintage, both of which had excellent customer service), as I know many of you are also continually on the prowl for good quality reproduction/vintage inspired styles from our favourite mid-twentieth century decades.

Here then is a roundup of ten terrific vintage reproduction clothing sellers from the UK. Happy wish list making and online shopping!

Big Beautiful Barbara Brown: Offers a wide selection of 1920s - 50s reproduction garments, plus some rockabilly wear, and even a handful of 60s and 70s styles, too. Vintage inspired pieces include high waisted trousers, playsuits, skirts, tops, suits, dresses (such as the darling ruffle sleeved Flirty Thirties frock pictured above), and shorts. Most items are available in an assortment of different types fabric and/or patterns in a wide array of sizes, and are made on a per-order basis.

Freddies of Pinewood: Known the vintage repro loving world over for their top-notch selection of both women's and men's denim (such as the classic side button jeans shown here), Freddie's also offers customers shirts, jackets, capri pants, overalls (dungarees), and accessories.

Heyday Vintage: Housing a roundup of really lovely 1940s and 50s inspired dresses, trousers, tops, and suits, Heyday is one of the vintage world's most loved sources of reproduction sites. I recently ordered their Fleur wrap dress (named after, and model by, well-known vintage blogger Fleur from Diary of a Vintage Girl) in the English Rose on white pattern and cannot gush about it enough!

Lady K Loves: To quote the homepage of this site itself, Lady K Love features "high quality clothes for rockabilly gals, pin up chicks, and kool katz". While many styles do channel an alluring pin-up vibe, others such as the 1940s inspired Rosie trousers shown here, have a somewhat more "every day" feel to them.

Puttin on the Ritz: With a name that instantly evokes images of chic, fabulously fashionable vintage nightlife, this high end vintage reproduction clothing seller offers a striking array of beautiful dresses, blouses, jackets, skirts, trousers, suits, coats (like the timelessly pretty April in Paris coat pictured here), eveningwear, and accessories, as well as a selection of garments for gentlemen, too.

Revival: With areas devoted to styles from the 20s, 30s, and 40s, plus swing dance and men's wear, too, Revival's assortment of old school inspired clothing and shoes is sure to provide you with a few new must-have items. If ever I wanted to tap into my inner 1920s flapper gal, I'd be highly tempted to pick up Revival's vibrant red Tango Dress shown above.

Tara Starlet: Boasting a highly pretty gathering of feminine vintage inspired looks in the form of dresses, tops, skirts (such as the wonderfully wearable Victory Skirt shown here in red and white houndstooth), playsuits, party dresses, bottoms, suits, outerwear, accessories, and more, Tara Starlet's pieces are just the ticket when you're in the mood to mix demure and alluring.

20th Century Foxy: Chocked full of pieces spanning looks from the 30s to 60s, this site is a vintage reproduction clothing lover's dream and includes items as diverse as crinolines (aka, petticoats, like the ruby red number shown here) to knitwear, hosiery to shoes, dresses, headwear, hair flowers, separates, coats and much more.

Vivian of Holloway: Undoubtedly one of the web's best known vintage reproduction sellers, Vivian of Holloway's inviting selection includes a bounty of dresses, tops, skirts, trousers, and accessories (such as snoods, jewelry, flowers, belts, and petticoats). I'm particularly smitten with their pinafore trousers in blue denim highlighted in the image here.

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This list certainly does not cover every last seller (be they a company or individual) who is currently producing vintage inspired garments in the UK, but it's a great jumping off point if you're looking to do some overseas shopping.

As time rolls on, I hope to shop with all of the sellers listed above, and would absolutely love to hear about your own experiences with these (and/or any other) online UK vintage reproduction sellers.

Oh, and should any of you happen to be, or know of, Canadian repro sources for 40s and 50s garments, definitely feel free to spill the beans!

Thank you for mentioning Heyday! I'm glad you like what we are doing. We know our competition are all wonderful companies too. Your blog is lovely and I'm signing up to follow it personally. Cheers! Shona

Thank you very much for your comments, I'm happy to know you enjoyed this list. It was a lot of fun to put together.

Miss Matilda, I adore your site and did not leave you off this list intentionally in the least. It's not an all encompassing roundup of every possible UK seller, so please don't think that you weren't included on purpose (nothing could be further from the truth, dear gal). Please consider yourself the 11th entry, and the first if I ever put together a second edition of this post.

Noirland, thanks for raising a good point. I'm happy to report that some of these sellers do indeed stock plus sizes.

Big Beautiful Barbara Brown, for example, states that their pieces are available in sizes 6 to 26. Freddies of Pinewood lists most of their jeans/pants in sizes up to at least a 36" waist, and Dolly Dagger has a section devoted especially to plus sizes. Some of the others may have plus sizes, too, just swing by their sites to check if such is the case.

You're very welcome, dear Katia. Pre-70s vintage is getting a lot harder to find here in Canada, so I buy most of my vintage (and repro) online, including from some of the sellers in this post. Hope you find some items from these shops that really make you a happy camper! :)

I have 4 1920's flapper bridemaids to dress and am in a wild panic! Does anyone know of anywhere that do lovely flapper dresses apart from Revival in London (wee bit pricey for me sadly) Any help would be very much appreciated Ange x☺x

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience with BBB. It's the polar opposite of what I received. In my case, I placed my order (I've only ordered from her shop once) a couple of years ago while I was in the midst of moving and was between houses. Not only did she accommodate the fact that I wanted my garments to fall between two existing sizes (aka, custom sized), but she very happily let me pay and then wait a few weeks until I was settled into my new house before sending the items, to ensure they reached me safe and sound (which they did).

I appreciate your sharing your less than stellar experience. It's amazing sometimes how differently two people can feel about their buying experience from the same seller. I hope the rest of your online purchases in 2014 go much better.

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I'm Jessica, a lifelong lover of all things antique and vintage, especially those from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

This blog is my visual scrapbook in which I record and share my thoughts on the multitude of sources, people and products that inspire and feed a modern gal's addiction to the past. I also post about the vintage clothes, hairstyles and make-up looks that I adore wearing.

Stay a spell and have a blast as we explore the incomparably fantastic world of vintage history and fashion together.

All images used on this site are credited to their original posters/creators/sources,
however if at any time you would prefer not to see one of your images here, please email me and I'll take it down right away.

PS...I just wanted to say thank you very much for visiting and to tell you that you're equal parts awesome and beautiful.